Jazzy Nagle

Professor Toohey

English 170-31

Reflective Cover Letter

30 November 2023

Reflective Cover Letter

Before going into English 170, I felt as if my writing skills were decent but definitely can be improved on. I hoped to find ways to write better essays and reflections that would not only meet the expectations of the professors and the department, but be able to make essays worthy of reading. For the last three months, this class helped me to express my voice in a professional format. I have learned so much within this class and am finding ways to be more consistent in my language and dialect.

One paper that I learned from was my analytical essay, and I was able to use the corrections from that paper and apply it to my visual memoir. My language use wasn’t the best, and I had a hard time being descriptive in describing what I wanted to talk about. There were rules that applied to the essay, but it was mainly a starting block of reflection papers. I felt as if I was meant to describe the painting rather than describing how I felt and how it attached to me or others in the world. Finding myself to easily come up with stories that I was able to place value in my visual memoirs. When it came to doing my research, I was able to apply this to different classes. Research is so important when trying to prove a point to the audience. Having to find sources that are reliable is what helped me in doing research projects in my other classes. The tips of how to be more effective in your writing, such as paraphrasing things that have common sense. One thing that helped me in my critical reading is questioning the topic. Another example is how people are able to identify the reason for the answer’s question. The techniques I have learned in this class have taught me so much in how to write in a professional form. I wanted to be able to introduce myself in a professional light without having to come out as messy or unethical. The writing process is what helps us come up with new ideas for our topics and are very important to writing a good paper. Some good tips I personally liked using is writing a rough draft so you can identify the mistakes you made on the paper and writing down possible sources for your paper to help you reach your point. I think my biggest writing strengths are learning to organize my essay forms and making a focused debate. I think I’m very comfortable writing my essays and how they are written. Writing is something I’ve learned to enjoy as the semester went on. 

English has become one of my favorite subjects to take, especially this semester. I hope to continue to learn new ways to communicate to my audience and become a better writer.